Current water-wheel.



No. 692,364. Patented Fab. 4, |902. P. H. RUSSELL.

CURRENT WATER WHEEL.

(Application led June 26, 1901.) (No Model.)

ilnrrnn Sri-iras PATENT Ormes.

PETER HENRY RUSSELL, OF CAMPTONVILLE, CALIFORNIA.

CURRENT WATER-WHEEL.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 692,364, dated February 4, 1902'. Application led June 26, 1901. Serial No. 66,096. (No modelJ .To @ZZ who/1t t may concern:

Beit known that I, PETER HENRY R UssELL, a citizen of theUnited States,residing at Cam ptonville, county of Yuba, State of California, have invented an Improvement in Current Vater-Wheels; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention relates to improvements in motors which are operated by the current of a stream.

Its object is to provide a simple and efficient wheel adapted to besubmerged and to run continually irrespective of the depth of the water above the wheel and which will utilize the maximum force of the current.

It consists of a disk or plate mounted upon a revoluble vertical shaft, radial blades having angular projections at their lower edges, said blades hinged to and pendent from said disk and free to Swing inV one direction, but having their motion limited in the other direction by means of brackets fixed upon the disk, a series of radial perforations in said plate, and housings or hoods by which the cu rrent passing above the disk is deflected downwardly and against said blades.

It also comprises details of construction, which will be more fully hereinafter set forth, having reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a perspective view of my invention. Fig. 2 is a front view of a blade. Fig. 3 is a side View of the same.

A represents a base upon which the wheel and its parts are mounted. This base is anchored or otherwise securely fixed in the bed of a stream, so that the wheel will be completely submerged. 2 is a vertical shaft stepped in a plate 3 on this base and suitably journaled at its other end, as at 4. Power is transmitted from this shaft by any desired means, as through the shaft 5 and gearing 6.

Fixed to the vertical shaft is a plate or disk 7, and to the under side of this disk are hinged, as at 8, the radially-extending blades or wings 9. These blades are free to swing in one direction upward and against the disk; but in the other direction their swing is limited by means of the brackets l0, which are secured to the plate. Thus the current fiowing as shown by the arrow will strike all of the blades, as the apparatus is completely submerged; but a propelling force will only be exerted against the blades on one side of the wheel- 1'. e., those vertically supported by the brackets-while the remaining blades will take a more horizontal position and will offer practically no resistance to the current. Generally where current water-wheels have had swinging wings or buckets they have depended on chains to limit the swing of these Wings. The result has been that the latter have neither opened nor folded so completely as to give the most effectual results. I have found that the brackets avoid friction, oder less resistance to the water, and allow the blades to swing quickly into vertical position, so as to receive the full impact of the current; furthermore, the weight of chains tended to prevent the blades readily assuming a horizontal position when the currentstruck them on their otherside. To assist the current in its action upon the blades, the latter may be provided with the dan ges ll along the bottom edge and also along the outer edge, as 12, if desired.

I'n the plate 7 I form aseries of radial slots or openings 13, corresponding to the number of blades, and over each opening I place a housing 14. These housings are designed higher and broader at their outer ends and are tapered toward the center of the wheel, so as to have their inner ends nearly Hush with the disk '7. The purpose of these openings and housings or hoods is to divert a portion of the current above the Wheel downwardly and against the blades to exert an added force thereon, and the peculiar construction of the hoods gives fullest effect to the current.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is

1. A water-wheel consisting of a vertical shaft, a disk fixed thereon, blades or wings hinged to the under side of the disk,said disk having a series of radial slots or openings corsponding to the number of blades and one opening disposed over each wing, means by which the blades are prevented from swinging beyond a vertical position in one direction, and housings over the slots or openings, said housings open at the front and closed at IOO the under side of the disk for limiting the swing of said blades in one Idireetion,radially extending slots in said plate corresponding to the blades, housings for said slots, each of said housings being broader and higher at their outer ends and tapering toward the center of the wheel substantially as described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

PETER HENRY RUSSELL. Witnesses:

OLIVER` YEISLEY, W. B. MEEK. 

